Blueprint Averts Design For Disaster

May 26, 1997|By Skip Myslenski, Tribune Auto Racing Writer.

INDIANAPOLIS — Ed Rachanski sighed. Then, his body sagging, he said, "I feel like a wet rag right now. We had a lot of unusual problems."

Rachanski, president of the Chicago-based Blueprint Racing Team, spoke just hours before Sunday's running of the Indianapolis 500 was rained out. The race is now set, weather permitting, to go off at 11 a.m. Monday, which will give Rachanski a much-needed chance to recover from those unusual problems that bedeviled his team last week.

They all began Tuesday in the garage of NAC Engines, which is in Chicago Ridge and owned by Rachanski's old friend, Micky Nickos. The engines from Blueprint's three cars had been sent there for testing on a dynamometer, a piece of sophisticated equipment that would do an autopsy of each of them.

"I won't allow an engine to go into a race without going onto it," explained Rachanski. But before any testing at all could be done, the dynamometer broke down.

For a day and a half, Nickos awaited the needed computer chip he had to special-order from the manufacturer, and then Thursday morning, up went the engine from Jim Guthrie's car. Its crankshaft broke while being tested. That engine would have to be partially rebuilt.

Then up went the engine from Sam Schmidt's car. Its new rod bolt blew while being tested. It would have to be totally rebuilt.

"That caused about $25,000 worth of damage," Rachanski said. "There were a bunch of holes in it."

Finally, up went the engine from Claude Bourbonnais' car. And this test at least was completed without incident. But Thursday's Carburetion Day, the last time drivers are allowed on the track before the race itself, was over and not one of Blueprint's drivers had been had able to take even a lap.

They instead had spent the afternoon waiting, while up in Chicago Ridge, in Nickos' garage, there was furious activity. Any number of Rachanski's friends from his days as a drag racer showed up to help, as did Tommy O'Brien, one of co-owners.

All through Thursday night and into Friday, they endlessly labored together over Guthrie's and Schmidt's engines. "When I called on Friday," Rachanski remembered, "(O'Brien) was sleeping in the corner on a concrete floor."

Finally, at 7 p.m. Friday, Guthrie's engine was fixed and back in Indianapolis. Bourbonnais' arrived later, at midnight, and then came Schmidt's at 4 a.m. Saturday.

Already Rachanski had talked to Leo Mehl, the executive director of the Indy Racing League, and after explaining the situation, asked for a dispensation. He wanted to test his rebuilt engines Saturday, and for this to happen, there would have to be a severe break with tradition.

The track was always shut down on Saturday before the race. "But we wanted to do it for safety reasons," explained Rachanski. "We wanted to make sure they (the engines) shifted properly, that there were no oil leaks, no water leaks. It also gives the driver more confidence (to see that his engine's working properly)."

Mehl, request in hand, carried it to USAC's Keith Ward, the chief steward of the 500. Ultimately, Rachanski got his dispensation. On Saturday, each of his drivers were able to turn four laps and to practice some pits stops.

Which brought Blueprint's week to Sunday morning. Rachanski, though weary, said, "One would think, `How did that happen?' It happened.

"But we pulled another magic trick out of the hat, and now the engines are perfect. They're all in perfect shape.